iFixit Gives Microsoft's Surface Pro Worst Repairability Score

iFixit likes to teardown popular gadgets to give a score based on repairability. When iFixit began its teardown of Microsoft's Surface Pro tablet it expected to find similar internals and disassembly methods it saw when it took the Surface RT apart, but this couldn't be further from the truth.

It also proved to be very challenging to figure out how to get inside the Surface Pro: taking over an hour to get to the internals, this is a record for iFixit. The company had to resort to using a heat gun and guitar picks to pry the display open. The team found the display assembly anchored down with the most adhesive ever seen on a small device teardown. iFixit reported the adhesive was very reminiscent of tar in function, appearance and smell.

The frustration didn't stop when it finally opened the Surface Pro. Holding the motherboard in place are 29 screws and when counting the total of screws inside the Surface Pro, the team found more than 90. iFixit found Microsoft spares no expense in keeping the Surface Pro going, with the "Cadillac of batteries" from LG, a 42 Wh battery heavily glued to the back cover of the Surface Pro.

When it comes to the Surface Pro's solid state drive, the picture is brighter. iFixit found the drive was much easier to remove and replace. This sounds like good news for all those 64GB Surface Pro owners who only find about 29GB of free internal storage. Don't get too excited about that though, because iFixit warns, "Unless you perform the opening procedure 100% correctly, chances are you'll shear one of the four cables surrounding the display perimeter." So, in other words, you probably should not attempt to open up the Surface Pro.

IFixit gives Microsoft's Surface Pro a 1 out of 10 score on repairability, the worst any tablet has ever received.